The Cave Creatures

Chapter 5

I took a deep breath and hoped that we knew what we were doing. As Mr. Nielson blew the whistle, Cordina came at me with her arms stetched out. I giggled to myself as a plan formed inside my head. Determination took a hold of me. I disappeared as quick as I could. Moments later, she was face first on the ground and all the other kids were laughing. You guessed it. I tripped her.

This angered Cordina, and she became instantly furious that she had been outsmarted. Olack had pinned Cirenge in the opposite side of the mats. When the brick had soared through the air, Olack didn't know what had hit him. Cirenge used his camouflage power at the last minute and escaped. The powerful force that Cordina had threw hit her cave creature instead. It was quite clear to everyone that we had won before any either of us had thrown a punch.

"Emmeline and Cirenge win!" Mr. Nielson exclaimed in an announcer voice.

Cordina stormed away towards her team in angry rage at her defeat, carrying Olack to the infirmary. I had a feeling that no one would be making fun of me for being new any longer. Cirenge and I had proven ourselves, even if it was in a stupid way.

I was careful to study the precise techniques of each of the other dueling pairs. A new concept learned each time something had worked and when someone had defended a move. I memorized certain things to practice in my room at home, hoping to perfect them later.

Soon, class had let out for the day. The coldness of the cool cave crept upon me, and I pulled my teal hoodie closer to my body. I refused to let any of the precious heat excape. Howe walked over to me as I was about to head home.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Howe asked quietly. He led me over to the side of the cave where I could easily spot a couple of stalagmites.

"What do you need?" I responded in a whisper.

"Natasha says that we need you and Cirenge for our next mission. You would be our best bet for gaining crucial information about the Samurai Society," he explained. "She wants to lead a three person team along with their creatures to go and spy on them at their headquarters. To learn more of their plans to destroy us."

"Sounds fun," I said smiling brightly.

Howe thought for a moment before he asked, "Are you up for it?"

"Totally!"

Howe smiled and said, "Great! She said to be here immediately after school on Friday. The mission will last until about the middle of Saturday. We'll meet in Natasha's office."

"Got it, thanks," I replied desprately trying to think of some excuse to give Marissa's parents. I figured that they would buy the story that I was going to sleep over at a new girl's house. That would work. The echos of my footsteps rung loudly through the entrance of the cave as I started to run home.

Excitement ran throughout my body as I stepped loudly on branches and leaves, not caring who heard. I was still in shock. Natasha had chosen me to go on a secret mission. Me. Out of all of the experienced and trained kids I was one of the three she'd picked.

I slowly climbed the steep slope back up to the road. When I'd reached the edge of the woods, the wind sent chills through my spine. I made my way back to my house and walked up the front walkway.

Even though I was home later than normal, nobody could complain because it was dinner time. As I walked through the front door, I hoped that Marissa wouldn't start questioning me about where I had been. I would say that I went to the new girl's house that I was going to "sleep over at" if she asked. Speaking of Marissa, where was she? I thought about it for a moment and realized that none of the Webb family was home.

Despite them being gone, I figured I still had to eat. As I walked over to the cupboard, I noticed a note on the fridge.

Emmeline,

Marissa is over at Penelope's house. We decided to go out to eat tonight and won't be back until eleven thirty. Remember to put your laundry in the washer and water the plants.

Sincerely, Maria and Phillip

I was relieved to finally have some time alone, away from my family. I needed to prepare for the mission the next day without any interuptions. I put some leftovers in the microwave for dinner and quickly ate; I made sure to leave plenty of time left for practicing.

At around 7:30, I walked into the soft, carpeted living room with determination in my eyes. I did my best to remember all of the different moves I had seen people do earlier. I didn't stop practicing my attack and defense moves until I had perfected each and every one. Thoughts in my head kept telling me that I didn't want to disappoint Natasha, Howe, or Ursula. It was not that I wanted to be better than them, but I needed to do my best. Tomorrow was my chance to finally do something important.

My warm, soft bed greeted me well as I lay down and slowly drifted to sleep. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.

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Gym was my least favorite class in school. I hated it even more than English and Science combined. We were going to run the mile, and running long distances was not something I was fond of. For some reason, the ladies first rule only seemed to apply to activities that girls hated to do. You could guess that meant the girls went first.

The teachers had set up bright orange cones around the field behind the school. The tall, green grass blew back as the slight breeze passed by. That was possibly the only bright side. Wind would most definately cool me down after an exhausting run.

The evil Mrs. Mahrog said in her heavy Russian accent, "Ready, set, go!" as she sat down in a lounge chair. I noticed her starting to eat a bag of potato chips as I dashed off. It made me wonder why she had become a gym teacher. I figured it was solely for the purpose of torturing kids. She hated any form of excercise. The Orange Sector School District had probably only hired her, because she worked for a lot less than most teachers would, descending from a wealthy family.

I sprinted past several of the orange cones, with the resistance of the wind pounding my face. Multiple girls were only walking, and the ones that ran were athletes trying to show off. I felt as if I was the only girl that ran for the sake of running. It seemed as if my feet stopped functioning after we were halfway through the first lap. Like I said, I don't like running long distances. Shortly after, I was on the final lap around the cones. I was only pushing myself to get water quicker.

Soon, I passed Elise and Morghan who had been walking. This surprised me. Elise Riley was not one to lack participation in gym. In fact, she told me last year that she loved running. My guess was that Morghan had somehow convinced her to stay behind to talk. Everything appeared to have changed lately. No one was the same person they had been in September. A lot had changed in a short two months. This was something I despised. They all had one common goal in mind, to rule the school.

A note from the author: All done! Sorry it took forever, I've had hardly any time to write lately. I am going to be going back and editing for a while so Chapter 6 won't be up until I am done editing. (officially UPDATED)